'Human propelled fish' swims toward new territory

The southern hemisphere’s only human-powered submarine is set to race in an annual international event for the third time this July.

The submarine, named Taniwha II, will be shipped over to Gosport, southern England to go against the clock and other human-powered submarines in the European International Submarine Races.

After winning a non-propeller race last year in Maryland, USA, with Taniwha I, the University of Auckland team who created it are feeling extremely optimistic about Taniwha II's chances this time around.

Taniwha II was crafted by a team of academics and students who had the same idea in mind - for their sub to mimic a fish.

It is operated by a person lying inside the body of the submarine who uses their feet on pedals to move fins on the top and bottom, and their hands to control a hydraulic system that moves the tail.

Chris Walker, the pilot of Taniwha II, said the idea to create a fish-like submarine came from associate professor, Iain Anderson of the university's Auckland Bioengineering Institute, and was followed up by studies from the Biomimetics Lab.

Mr Walker said biomimetics involves using “nature as your inspiration for research”, which has so far been successful with the idea of a submarine with fins.

Taniwha II is one of 20 subs entered in the race, and is one of the few that is propeller-less.

Mr Anderson, who started and funded the project from the beginning, said the idea of a finned submarine makes sense as the “majority of the things that swim in the sea have fins”.

“We want to see if we can adapt to the underwater world,” he added.

The aim is eventually to have a submarine fully controlled by the movements of the human body, and which is totally flexible and manoeuvrable like a fish.

The University of Auckland entered the competition in 2014 after Mr Anderson attended the games in the USA in 2013 and came back inspired.

Each year the race switches location between the UK and the USA, and switches course between a drag race and slalom. This year is a slalom course.

The first race the team entered was a slalom, which is like an obstacle course, but the original Taniwha wasn’t capable of completing the race.

This year, the team has created a Givealittle page to help fund the travel of the team of eight needed to compete, while sponsors Air New Zealand and Mainfreight cover the shipping of Taniwha II.

The Taniwha being tested underwater. Video: Courtesy of Taniwha submarine team